Monday 3rd March.

Woman On Trial for filming Demonstration at Anti-Arms Trade Protest Camp

A woman is on trial for allegedly refusing to give her camera to police while filming at an anti arms trade protest camp in Brighton. The arrest took place on 29th August 2007 during a week long protest camp against EDO MBM, a Brighton based arms manufacturer making weapons for the US, UK and Israel.

Chloe Marsh, press spokesperson for the Smash EDO campaign said ‘This arrest is part of a police strategy to prevent filming at protests by seizing video cameras and arresting those filming. During EDO’s high court civil injunction case EDO and Sussex Police tried to twist the law to ban filming at the factory and failed. Now they are trying to stop protesters filming by misusing their powers under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act. This is yet another example political policing at the factory.’

The trial will run from Monday 3rd to Thursday 6th March at Brighton Magistrate’s Court.

Also on trial is the man that the woman was filming who is alleged to have been trying to lock himself to a TNT delivery truck. Campaigners have called for action against companies, including DHL, TNT and Interlink Express, who deliver services to EDO MBM.

Andrew Beckett, press spokesperson for the campaign said ‘EDO MBM have no in house transport service so all the weapons components they manufacture are delivered to their destination by couriers like TNT. We are calling on these companies to stop aiding and abetting EDO MBM in carrying out their criminal business.’

For more info contact Andrew Beckett or Chloe Marsh on 07875708873 or email smashedopress@yahoo.co.uk

For more details see www.smashedo.org.uk

Notes for Journalists

Brighton & Hove is a UN Peace Messenger City

The injunction referred to was served under the 1997 Protection from Harassment Act (originally designed to protect women from stalkers) and is the first of its kind directed at activists outside of the animal rights movement. Crucially it is a civil injunction but carries criminal penalties. It affects anyone deemed to be a protestor. Initially EDO/MBM requested a large "exclusion zone" comprising the whole of Home Farm Industrial Estate.

They and Sussex police also wanted to limit demonstrations to two and a half hours, with less thanten people who had to be silent. Judge Gross refusedto impose these conditions at the initial hearing of an interim injunction, which was put in place in the period before the full trial to be heard at the High court in London from November 21st. In his summing up he said, "The right to freedom of expression is jealously guarded in English law" and consequently refused to impose the requested limits on size, timing or noise made at demonstrations. He also said that he doubted that protesters were 'stalking' employees of EDO MBM.

EDO MBM Technologies Ltd are the sole UK subsidiary of huge U.S arms conglomerate EDO Corp, which was recently named No. 10 in the Forbes list of 100 fastest growing companies. They supply bomb release mechanisms to the US and UK armed forces amongstothers. They supply crucial components for Raytheon's Paveway guided bomb system, widely used in the "Shock and Awe" campaign in Iraq .

EDO also withdrew a threatened libel action against Indymedia over being named as "warmongers".

Lawson-Cruttenden & Co
Solicitors firm working for EDO have been instrumental in developing the Protection of Harassment Act 1997 from a measure designed to safeguard individuals to a corporate charter to make inconvenient protest illegal. Theyhave pioneered to use of injunctions to create large "exclusion zones". They have secured numerous injunctions against anti-vivisection and anti-GM protestors.

Campaign against EDO MBM
People involved in the anti-EDO campaign include, but are not limited to: local residents, the Brighton Quakers, peace activists, anti-capitalists, Palestine Solidarity groups, human rights groups, trade unionists, academics and students. The campaign started in August 2004 with a peace camp. It's avowed aim is to expose EDO MBM and their complicity in war crimes and to remove them from Brighton.


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